The Shop Around The Corner

[londonronnie]

A couple of months ago I noticed some renovations starting on a shop which is located just around the corner from our house, opposite my granddaughter's school. In its most recent incarnation it had been a kitchen design and installation business - they installed our kitchen about ten years ago - but it had been closed and empty for a year or so. By some fluke the exterior of the shop had managed to retain a lot of the original features, so I was interested to see what would become of these. I watched the progress of the renovations each day as I took Izzy to and from school and it became obvious that the people working on the shop were 'old school' craftsmen using traditional methods to bring the old shop back to its former glory.

My interest in the place took a leap when one day I noticed that they'd taken down the sign belonging to the kitchen company and had exposed a earlier sign, namely that of "E F Pretswell and Son". This happened to be a name that was very familiar to me as I knew that the original owner of our house, back in 1894, was a Mr Edmund Forbes Pretswell!



I started to do a little research on the shop, looking through census returns and trade directories etc, but was beaten to it by a contributor to a local history website, who posted their findings HERE. The article has prompted a fair amount of response, including some comments from the current owner of the shop and also some from the gt-grandson of Mr Pretswell Snr.

The OH and I can't help feeling a connection with the 'shop around the corner' and we're both greatly intrigued as to what it might eventually turn out to be.

BTW, I couldn't resist digging out the original deeds of the house -

Comments

[maddalia.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for sharing this. It's fascinating! I hope your 'shop around the corner' doesn't turn into a Starbucks or something. I'd love to know whether that's Edmund in the doorway, in the photograph on the local history site.

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

Having had a brief glimpse at the restored interior it does look as though it would be better suited to a cafe or coffee shop, a place where you can relax and appreciate the surroundings rather than being somewhere that you'd just nip into for a pint of milk or a newspaper. I don't think Starbucks or any of the big coffee shop chains will venture into this neck of the woods (I hope!), more likely to be an independent I'd think.

Hopefully Edmund Snr's gt-grandson will comment further on the photo!

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

Ooh, history comes alive! I love the solicitor's name - Septimus G. Ward, he sounds like a Victorian novel character. I hope the shop does get a sympathetic tenant, like the developer says. Keep us posted!

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

Isn't that a fantastic name! One to file away for future use in a historical AU, I'd say! *g*

I will indeed keep you posted - hopefully it won't be standing empty for too long.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I find this sort of thing endlessly fascinating. I think it's really cool that you have this connection and the paperwork to show it off!

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

It is fascinating, isn't it.

Something like this really makes the centuries roll away. I love it!

[towerbridge2006.livejournal.com]

This is fascinating, C. I love that old photo of the shop!

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

Great, isn't it!

With any luck some more old photos will surface, maybe even one of our 'shop around the corner' in its heyday!

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

Oh, how wonderful! That sort of stuff makes me squee with delight, even vicariously.

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

I know, me too!

It's as though we're making contact across the centuries, I love it!

[sw33n3y.livejournal.com]

It's wonderful to be able to look back into past lives that unfolded on exactly the same spot you're in now.

What a proud proprietor Pretswell Snr looks in the article photo. :D

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed!

I still can't get over all the coincidences involved, firstly that the sign should still be intact after all these years, secondly that it was unexpectedly revealed like this, and thirdly that we immediately recognised the name and the connection with our house. It's all a bit spooky really!

[cornishcat.livejournal.com]

I adore tangible history like this as it shows us a snippet of the real lives of our ancestors or our surroundings, making it all so very relevant and believable.

Thanks for sharing

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

It really does bring history to life, doesn't it.

It's like archaeology without the aching knees, broken fingernails and mud-encrusted jeans! LOL

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

wonderful that the old sign was still there just preserved under the modern one! old shop fronts can be so elegant, i hope they keep as much of it as possible now.
Such a happy coincidence too.

[londonronnie.livejournal.com]

The inside looks pretty special too - lots of lovely wood panelling and a mural covering one wall depicting a bookcase full of books. I only had a brief glimpse though before they put curtains up at the windows and door. No idea if these are original features or new ones, but hopefully it won't be too long before we can have a proper look inside.